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A teenage girl involved in a three-year wrangle over a compensation claim for serious back injury suffered after a school self-defence class went wrong has finally won an undisclosed award.
The pupil, now 19, was crushed on an un-matted floor after her instructor, demonstrating how to get out of a headlock, slipped and fell onto the girl.
She was taken to hospital on a spinal board, after complaining of being unable to breathe.
As a result of the back injury the girl has suffered ongoing problems: muscle and ligament damage has required several sessions of osteopathy, and it took six months for the pupil to be able to sit comfortably again.
She says, "All the hospital visits caused a lot of disruption at school, and my GCSEs went terribly. It made me angry because a lesson like that should never have been allowed to go ahead in a room without safety mats."
The pupil's personal injury solicitor said, "[Her] injuries caused her a significant amount of distress and had a significant impact on her schooling and personal life. This case should serve as a warning to schools that they must ensure all necessary safety precautions are taken when organising lessons of this kind."
The 19 year-old is now waiting to take up a post as a trainee officer with the Metropolitan Police.
She said, "It's a dream come true," especially as at one point she thought the back injury had affected her ability to apply for the force.
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